Bloomberg hits Trump on coronavirus response in new ad

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is going after President Trump for his response to the novel coronavirus outbreak in a new ad set to air nationally on Thursday, his campaign announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: The 30-second spot claims the U.S. is "underprepared" for the crisis, while highlighting Bloomberg's response to the 9/11 attacks and health emergencies during his time as mayor. Bloomberg is the first candidate to air an ad about the coronavirus, per NBC's Josh Lederman.

• Trump has been optimistic in his public comments about the coronavirus, claiming it's “a problem that's going to go away" and downplaying its mortality rate — despite warnings from the CDC that the virus will spread in the U.S.
• On Wednesday, following a two-day market sell-off, Trump accused the media in a tweet of "doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus [sic] as bad as possible, including panicking markets."

What they're saying:

“Health experts warn the U.S. is underprepared. Managing a crisis is what Mike Bloomberg does. In the aftermath of 9/11, he steadied and rebuilt America’s largest city, oversaw emergency response to natural disasters, upgraded hospital preparedness to manage health crises, and he’s funding cutting edge research to contain epidemics.”

Watch: